Meet Me Halfway

There is a popular conception that at Harvard College students are
taught by graduate students and never interact with faculty. Perhaps
you were offered this view when you were choosing colleges (or perhaps,
given that you decided to attend, you weren't). Students often express
their interest in more, and more interesting, interaction with faculty
members. When I served on the Committee on Undergraduate Education a
few years ago, the student members of the committee even went so far as
to draft an excellent letter that was sent to all faculty, under the
auspices of the CUE, providing ideas about how we might interact more
with students.

When this topic comes up, many of the faculty here, including myself,
are reminded of the following old joke:

A deeply religious man, whom I will call Dave, finds himself in dire
financial trouble. He prays earnestly to his God to help him out
of his predicament. "God, I'm about to lose my car. Please help
me. Let me win the lottery." Lottery night comes, but sadly, Dave
is not the winner.

Things go from bad to worse. Without a car to get to work, Dave
loses his job. Without a job, his mortgage is foreclosed on, and
he loses his home. Without a home, his wife leaves him, taking the
kids. After each horrible step in the mounting crisis, he pleads
with God to let him win the lottery, but he never does.

Finally, broke, hungry, living on the street, he tries again.
"God, please, my life is a wreck. I have no car, no home, no
family. Please let me win the lottery just this once so that I can
turn my life around. I beseech you."

Suddenly, a flash of light rends the sky, and the voice of God
echoes down from the heavens. "Dave, meet me halfway. Buy a
ticket."

Many faculty, like God, wish that the students would meet us halfway.
If you want interaction with faculty, take the opportunities when they
are offered. Most faculty offer regular office hours. Visit them. You
could, for instance, come to your adviser's office hours other than on
study card day. You could visit a professor of one of your courses even
when you don't need an extension. You can visit office hours even
though you have no pressing bureaucratic issues, but just want to
discuss something you think the faculty member might be interested in.
I don't necessarily mean current results in his or her field. What
about politics, music, why advising at Harvard is so bad and what can be
done about it? (I hold two hours of office hours a week. I used to
teach a course of some 300 students. In a typical week, the number of
students in that class of 300 availing themselves of my office hours
would be zero.) You could invite a faculty member to lunch at your
house if you'd prefer to meet on neutral territory. (It won't even cost
you or your adviser anything.) When a Harvard faculty member makes an
attempt at interaction, like coming to your house for lunch and sitting
with you, you can act like you appreciate the gesture. (I eat
occasionally at Lowell House and at Annenberg, where I plop myself down
at random tables. About half the time, I get into very stimulating
discussions with whomever I join. The other half of the time, I get a
mystified look and the cold shoulder. Others with thinner skins might
give up on the efforts after such treatment.)

Most Harvard faculty members actually like talking with students -- that's
why we became professors -- and will happily do so when the opportunity
comes up. But it helps to provide the opportunity.